


we'll be kings and queens in this dream

by chailover



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Boys Being Boys, Chores, Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Halloween, Multi, Prom, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-11-05 20:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17926130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chailover/pseuds/chailover
Summary: The Destiny Island Trio - various vignettes and short stories.Not compliant with anything post KH2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm cleaning house and posting some old stuff because I'm apparently the last person to realize KH3 is FINALLY out and it's sucked me back into the KH fandom, since I can't play it because I don't have a PS4 and so I have to live vicariously through other people's videos. This led me to discover I had written quite a bit of stuff for KH2 way back when and I figured I'd put them here for archiving purposes. Title from Battle Scars by Paradise Fears.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparring, coconuts, hot dogs, and prom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually posted on my LJ for my yearly birthday fic a loooooooong time ago. Nothing but fluff, written with only basic knowledge of KH up to KH2 with a tiny bit of Chain of Memories.

**

Kairi flopped herself down on the sand next to Riku in an unlady-like sprawl. He looked down at her with a smile and said, “You did pretty well.”

Kairi huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face as she caught her breath. “Yeah, I’m sure getting disarmed in a few moves is doing well. And that guy still has energy to go get coconuts,” she muttered, propping herself up on her elbows and making a face at the sensation of sand on her back and arms. Sora waved from where he was gliding toward the palm grove. “Ugh. I’m wiped out. After _five minutes_.” She dropped back down to the sand.

“It was more like fifteen,” Riku offered helpfully. “Don’t worry about it, your stamina’ll improve the more you fight. No one’s really good off the bat.”

The Princess of Heart groaned. “You and Sora were.” She grumbled, closing her eyes.

She could hear the wryness in Riku’s voice. “Me and Sora were beating each other up with wooden swords since we could hold them.”

“Barbarians.” Kairi laughed and Riku hummed a wordless agreement. They sat in companionable silence for a few more seconds before Kairi cracked an eye open and said, hopefully, “Help?”

“What?”

She sat up. “Give me clues on how to beat him! Or,” she amended, “how to disarm him. You always do better when that’s the condition, anyway.”

“It’s a kind of pointless condition,” Riku said doubtfully, “Since we can always call our Keyblades back.” But he relented when she gave him her most beseeching look. “Well, okay, here’s something that might work…”

**

Sora shimmied down the trunk of the palm far enough that he was reasonably sure that a coconut wouldn’t be smashed open on impact, and dropped the three that he had in his arms. He actually wanted to pick more, but Kairi had mentioned a new hot dog stand opening down another stretch of beach, and of course that made him crave hot dogs something awful. He was going to drag Kairi and Riku there sometime, soon. Maybe even today.

Coconuts in hand, he headed back to the palm tree, ready to share his spoils. Riku and Kairi didn’t seem to notice his approach, the two of them sitting with their heads together, whispering furiously. Sora grinned at the sight, not really care that it was probably completely goofy.

 _You are_ such _a sap_ , Roxas told him.

 _Quiet, you_ , he thought back fondly, grinning wider.

Riku was demonstrating something with his hands, and Kairi was nodding along when Sora came up to them. Almost as one, they looked up and Sora nearly took a step back at the identical grins of unholy glee on their faces.

“Uh…” Instinct won and he did end up taking that step. “What’s up, guys?”

Kairi hopped to her feet and relieved him of his food burden. “Let’s try again!” she said cheerfully, depositing the coconuts in Riku’s lap. Sora blinked.

“Try what again?” He asked dubiously, and was answered in the same breath when Kairi manifested her keyblade with a brilliant flash of light and the sound of metal being unsheathed. “Oh. I thought you were tired?”

Kairi started pacing out a rough perimeter for their arena. “I got my second wind.”

Sora slid a look to Riku, who merely smirked. It was his I-know-something-you-don’t smirk, so Sora wasn’t too reassured, but he shrugged and said gamely, “If you say so,” and hurried to catch up to Kairi.

Once they were set, he braced his feet and took ready-stance, calling the Kingdom Key to his hands. “The usual?”

“Disarm or ring-out,” Kairi replied with a nod, gesturing to the off-side lines provided by the two palm trees and the ocean. Her keyblade came up and she grinned. “Ready when you are.”

**

Riku was trying his best not to snicker when Sora was stamping his foot and pointing at him, yelling with injured dignity, “that’s _cheating_!”

“I wasn’t even in the ring!” He protested, holding his hands out in a gesture of surrender as Kairi grinned, still breathing hard, bent over to catch her breath. The Kingdom Key remained on the sand for a second before disappearing in a flash of light and reappearing in Sora’s hand, the one not currently occupied with pointing accusingly at Riku.

“You _taught_ her that!”

“Taught her what?” Riku replied innocently.

“Th-that _wrist_ thing!” Sora gestured wildly. “That wrist thing you do!”

“It’s a classic disarm,” Kairi interjected, even though it wasn’t, not really; not after Riku was through modifying it to use against Sora, anyway. She reached out and put a hand on Sora’s outstretched arm, gently pushing it down. “And now that I know it, you can’t go easy on me anymore.”

Sora drooped. “I…I wasn’t trying to go easy on you.” He mumbled.

She smiled. “I know. But if you don’t let me catch up, I’ll be left behind again.” Kairi laced her fingers in his and squeezed. “And more than anything else, I don’t want that.” She held his gaze for a few more seconds before nodding and saying in a lighter tone. “And now, I’m _famished_. Let’s get some food!”

**

The hot dogs turned out to be so good that Sora ended up getting them again much later, when the sun was starting to set and their thoughts were turning towards home and homework. He was munching on one, Riku and Kairi splitting the other, the three of them sitting on the trunk of the paopu tree, when a thought struck him.

“Hey, guys,” he asked, looking up at the darkening sky. The stars were starting to come out and it reminded him of the posters currently up everywhere at school. _‘A Night To Remember’_ , they all said in flowing, girly script. “Are we going to prom?”

Riku raised an eyebrow at him, but shrugged noncommittally. Sora, being well versed in the language of Riku, took that as a ‘dunno, don’t care’.

But Kairi looked up at him, eyes bright. Sora wasn’t sure why, but most girls seemed to get that way about prom. He didn’t mind it with Kairi though. “We should,” she said.

And that was that.

**  
End


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween town, Santa, and good children who did bad things for good reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another old KH fic that I had actually posted on ff.net. I actually still really like this one. Once we're past this, we'll be in previously unposted territory...

**

Kairi blinked as her eyes adjusted from the bright consoles in the Gummi Ship to the bleached moonlight of their destination world. A howl sounded off in the distance, and the leaves shivered on their branches. The moment she regained her bearings she realized something: her clothes felt strange - tighter across some places where they were loose before, and vice versa, and when she glanced down she found them completely changed.

Her sturdy traveling outfit was replaced by a knee-length black dress, ripped at the sleeves and hem. There was a similarly ratty cloak around her shoulders and - she had to reach up to adjust it - a pointed witch's hat at a rakish angle on her head. Her keyblade had morphed into a broom, and she had black and white striped stockings.

Sora was next, and he materialized next to her with a black outfit she hadn't seen on him before, little bat wings on his back and a pumpkin...mask? hat? on his head, casting his brilliant eyes in shadow. She wasn't sure what he was supposed to be until Sora exclaimed delightedly, "You're a witch!" and grinned widely enough to show off his vampire fangs. 

"And you're a vampire," she noted with amusement. "Is this normal?"

Before Sora could answer, there was another displacement of space as the Gummi-ship teleporter deposited the third in their trio. Riku blinked, taking in Sora and Kairi's new outfits.

"Nice hat." He said to Kairi.

At the exact same moment, Sora cried, "Tail!" and in a manner identical to any six year old faced with a canine for the first time, grabbed for the silver furred appendage.

"HEY!" Riku protested, ears going flat against his head. Then he forgot all about Sora abusing his tail in favor of grabbing his ears, which were now perched atop his head and tipped in the same shade of silver as his hair. "What the...?" he muttered. Then, "Sora, let go of my tail."

"I think it's this world." Kairi offered. "Have you been here before?"

At the same time, Sora reluctantly released his prize and said, "I think you're a werewolf!"

"No," Riku answered Kairi, lowering his arms, and blinked at Sora's statement. He took a cautious sniff of the air and then ran his tongue over his teeth. Kairi could see he had fangs to match Sora's. "Huh." He mused, twisting around to look at his tail. He swished it back and forth a few times. "Weird." He finally pronounced, though it didn't sound like an 'I'm going to freak out now' sort of weird.

Sora made an exaggerated grimace which made both Kairi and Riku raise eyebrows. "I'm demonstrating," he said, dropping the expression temporarily to add, "I bet my fangs are scarier than Riku's!"

Kairi laughed as her boys started yet another one of their eternal competitions. Halloween Town seemed like a fun place already.

**

She would have giggled at the flustered expression still on Riku's face if she hadn't been a bit busy being shocked herself. Sora was bouncing a bit around them, grin as brilliant as the Christmas lights and decorations in the town around them.

" _See_?" He crowed. "Santa _is_ real!"

Kairi peered back and was greeted with the sight of the red-clad Santa, still waving at them from his house. Despite the fact that she was sixteen-going-on-seventeen, she still felt a small wave of childish glee swell up inside her. "He wouldn't tell us if we were on his list though." Kairi said, trying to not skip a little in the giddy aftermath of _meeting Santa_.

Sora shot her a grin. "Of course not! We'll find out what he got us on Christmas, it's only October!"

Riku had his expression back under control and just looked mostly neutral even though his tail still twitched occasionally. But Kairi was glad that she had given him a haircut within the first week of their return, because it meant he couldn't hide his eyes behind his bangs. She could tell he was just as awestruck as she was beneath the seemingly cool exterior.

But Riku never stayed flustered for long. "I think we're a little out of his age bracket," he drawled as they made their way to the tree that held the jack-o-lantern sign that was the doorway back to Halloween Town. "Unless he's going by mental ages."

"HEY!" Sora protested. "What are you implying, huh??"

The world dimmed, and then reformed around them. The skeletal trees of Halloween Town greeted her eyes, dark and desolate after the colorful and cheery landscape of Christmas Town. Riku rolled his eyes.

"I'm implying that you're sixteen-going-on-six." he said teasingly.

Sora sniffed. "Sixteen isn't too old to get presents from Santa." He retorted haughtily.

"You are _such_ a kid." Riku laughed, but Kairi caught a hint of wistfulness in it - like Riku thought that even if sixteen isn't too old to get presents from Santa, seventeen was, and presents weren't for bad children anyway.

**

On their way back to their Gummi ship, that and a quiet nudge from Namine was why she blurted out, "I forgot, there was something I needed to give Sally. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

Riku and Sora looked back at her, Sora with an eyebrow raised and Riku with an ear cocked. "It's no big deal, we can come with you." Sora offered.

"No, that's okay." She waved a hand. "I'll be fine."

They look unconvinced.

"It's a girl thing." She added, and the boys looked more mystified but less unconvinced. Kairi made a note to use the 'it's a girl thing' excuse more often, and let things slide if they ever came up with the excuse that 'it's a guy thing'. "I'll catch up," she repeated. "See you in a bit!"

As soon as they were out of sight, she reversed direction and made a beeline for Christmas Town.

**

"Hohoho. It looks like you have a question to ask me, Kairi." Santa's eyes were twinkling as he smoothed out his long white beard, seating himself across from her. "But remember, you've already asked me to check the list for your name."

Kairi nodded. "I'm not here to ask about me, Santa. You said that you can't tell us whether we're on the good or bad list, but..." she had taken off her hat, and now ran a finger along the brim to try and gather her thoughts. It didn't help that she felt like a little girl again, wide-eyed and awed at even the _prospect_ of Santa.

"But?"

Kairi took a deep breath. "If...if someone did bad things for good reasons, would they still end up on the bad list?" She almost twisted the brim of her hat but caught herself. "I don't think that's fair, because it's already bad enough that they had to do things they didn't want to without being punished on top of that. I'm not saying that it excuses the bad things they did, just that...the circumstances should be considered." She looked up hopefully at him. "Don't you think so?"

The pause seemed to drag on for eternity as she waited with baited breath, but in reality it was less than a minute before Santa's eyes crinkled in a smile. He patted her hand comfortingly and said, "I know so."

**

Later, when they were all back on the ship and en route to Destiny Islands, right before she fell asleep, Namine said in her heart, _that was very kind of you to do that for him_.

Kairi blinked sleepily, tugging at the blankets in the tiny bedroom cot that she was currently sharing with Sora, who was sawing logs. It took a moment before she realized what Namine meant. "Oh." She murmured, and thought, _it's not just for him, it's for you too_.

_Oh_. Namine echoed, her shock almost jolting Kairi until she drew herself in, curling into a tiny corner of Kairi's heart so that her reaction was muted. Kairi felt her trembling, confused and maybe a little happy. _Oh. Thank you_.

**

She forgot about the whole thing until almost two months later. Christmas day dawned like every other day on Destiny Islands - bright and warm, with brilliant sunshine and azure skies. Kairi rubbed her eyes as Sora bolted out of bed, yelling, "It's CHRISTMAS!" and racing for the stairs. Beside her, Riku hid his head under a pillow.

"Just like a kid," he muttered.

From downstairs, Sora called, "C'mon, guys! There are PRESENTS!!"

"We're coming, we're coming!" Kairi answered, relieving Riku of his light-blocking pillow. Now that she was a bit more awake, she was starting to get excited too. "Come on, Riku!"

Riku groaned, but grudgingly started stirring from his hibernation. "We went to bed like, two hours ago."

"We should have done our gift exchanges earlier," Kairi agreed, sliding out of bed. Their parents had left them to their celebration, which went later and later as they told stories and drank eggnog and kept nodding off but never quite staying asleep.

On her desk was the present that Sora and Riku had given her - a small wrought-iron locket on a keychain, synthesized by the moogles from rare materials. Her keyblade had morphed into sleek and beautiful lines to match when she equipped it.

Next to it was a small, spiral bound sketchbook, with the words 'Castle Oblivion' written carefully on the cover. Riku and Kairi had spent days remembering, recording, and Namine illustrating, so that they could give Sora back a little of the year that he had lost.

The thalassa charm strung together from shells with mother-of-pearl lining and Bright Shards that she and Sora had made was nowhere to be seen. Kairi suspected Riku had put it away in a safe place already.

"GUYS!"

Sora was practically bouncing with impatience when Kairi and Riku finally came down. "Slowpokes!" But he was grinning as he started attacking the pile of presents under the tree.

Kairi rubbed at her eyes again, even though traces of sleepiness had already left her. Three presents does not a pile make, she thought.

"There are too many presents," Riku echoed. Sora shoved a brightly wrapped box in his hand in response. "Huh?"

"For you!" Sora pointed at the tag. "And this one's for....huh." She watched in confusion as Sora looked up from the present he was inspecting, closing his eyes and -

And then Roxas stumbled into view next to the brunette, as if some invisible hand had shoved him through and right out of his Other. "-the hell, Sora!" He blinked, and blinked again. "...the hell?" he repeated weakly.

"It's for you," Sora said cheerfully, ignoring Roxas' protest of 'that's impossible!'. "Kairi, hand." She obediently held out a hand and he deposited two packages in it.

She nudged Namine, who emerged with her hands clasped against her chest, and Sora's smile gentled. "There's one for you too." Kairi said softly, knowing she was probably beaming like an idiot but not really caring.

The cause was Riku's quiet grin as he held his present, Roxas' flustered and barely hidden delight, and Namine's tiny shiver of happiness. Even Sora, and herself. They were all children who did bad things for good reasons, and Kairi would give anything so they wouldn't have to make that choice again.

But all she said was, "Merry Christmas."

**

End


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colds, homework, and video games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still not KH canon compliant after KH2, but I read/watched all the KH 358/2 days manga and videos I could find after I finished the KH3 videos, so future stuff might be slightly more in line with actual game-stuff.

**

"Man, this sucks~~"

Riku snorted as he set down the bags he was holding, loosening the tie on his school uniform. Sora guessed he must've came straight from school, since all of them preferred clothes that were more suited to the beach. "You got an extension on your midterms. I don't see what sucks about that."

Sora pushed down his blankets just long enough to glare at his best friend. The fact that his nose was leaking snot rather ruined the effect. "I'm sick! It sucks being sick!" He punched his pillow a few times in indignation. "I'm a Keyblade Master. We shouldn't get sick!"

"Too bad." Riku's sympathy was striking in its lack. "Your mom told the school you'll be in next week, so you'll have to get better before then."

"So mean~" Sora whined. Riku separated out one bag in particular - one that Sora didn't recognize as his book-bag. "What did you bring me?"

"Stuff."

"What stuff?"

Riku made himself comfortable on the floor, booting up Sora's game system. If everyone had thought Sora, Riku and Kairi were inseparable before, it hardly held a candle to the way they were now. In any case, Kairi and Riku seemed to know Sora's room better than he did, sometimes, including how to get the finicky power cables to work on his gaming console and finding MIA controllers. "Look for yourself."

"Your bedside manner sucks."

"I live to serve." Riku mock-bowed, but took enough pity to pass the bag over to Sora so he didn't have to actually get up and out of bed. The other boy tore into it, revealing that there were actually two separate, smaller bags inside. "The blue one's from Kairi."

"She couldn't come today?" Sora asked, opening the bag Riku indicated, only vaguely registering Riku’s ‘she said maybe later’. The bag was deep indigo with flower patterns - elegant without being overly girly, a very Kairi-like trait. Inside he found a box of tea and a container of ginger-honey. He whooped-which ultimately ended up in a small coughing fit, which drew his mother's attention. "Look, mom," Sora piped when she stuck her head in to check on him, "Kairi gave me more tea!"

The tea and honey was thus collected, and his mother promised to bring up a cup as soon as the water was ready. Sora dug into the other bag, only to groan comically at the contents. He reached in and pulled out a binder.

" _Homework?!_ "

Riku rolled his eyes. "We're already behind, you know. You're taking the midterms next week - so if you don't work on it now, there's no way you'll have time to finish before the teacher won't take it anymore."

"You brought me _homework_???" Sora wept. "Oh, cruel world!!"

He couldn't tell if Riku eye-rolled, since he had fallen back down into bed and pulled the comforters over his head, but it was a pretty safe bet to say that he did. Sora and Kairi made a sport of spotting every one of their friend's expressions, and the eye-roll was definitely a common one. "Quit your whining," Riku snorted. "It's not even that hard."

“Easy for you to say,” Sora muttered, given that Riku was good at _everything_.

Disconsolate sniffles came from under the blankets. Riku looked at the Sora-lump and allowed himself a small smile as he pulled his own book bag closer. He fished around in the contents until his fingers met a familiar case. They had pooled their money (even though there was no need - Sora had munny stashed in all of his oversized pockets and could call up more if needed, Kairi was a Princess of Heart, which meant that anyone who knew what _that_ meant fell all over themselves getting her things that she hinted at wanting, and Riku never seemed to be short of cash though no one really wanted to ask him just where he got it all) to buy various sundries for their now intertwined lives - video games being one of them.

Eventually they stopped buying more than one copy, though, even if it was a game they all wanted to play - the theory being that the other two would be with (or will have the chance to be with) whoever was carrying the game at the time anyway. They learned that lesson rather hilariously after they somehow ended up with five ( _five??_ ) copies of Last Fantasy VII. It was embarrassing, but Sora felt rather goofily happy about it anyway.

"I guess you don't want this, then?"

Sora peeked out just enough to see Riku dangle the case for Ultimate Tournament at him like bait. "You brought it!"

"Well, yeah. I imagine you could use a good mindless game." Riku said modestly, and with reflexes honed by countless battles with the Heartless, whipped the case out of Sora's reach as the other Keyblade Master made a mad grab for it. "Homework first." Before Sora could turn on the full strength of his baby-blues, Riku added, "On your mom _and_ Kairi's orders. Take it up with them if you have any complaints."

And when Sora did a flying leap out of bed for the pencil that would allow him to complete his homework and give him sweet, mindless gaming relief, Riku laughed. It was worth falling out of bed and jarring his elbow, worth five pages of vocabulary and math problems, to see that. And then later, while they were madly bashing buttons as they played (on the same team. The AI never even had a _chance_ ), Kairi let herself in, settling down on the free place between them, the day became as perfect as it could possibly be.

**

End


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More on Kairi, learning to fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I know Mickey is not actually Japanese, but I think he'd be the very polite type to call people by title if they're not his close friends. And Princesses of Heart are kind of a big deal in Kingdom Hearts! <-making excuses.

**

Disney Castle was beautiful in the late afternoon, the white walls gleaming and the colorful pennants streaming gently in the breeze, but the wonderful weather and setting only served as a glaring contrast to Kairi’s terrible mood. If her heart really was so pure and full of light, she would’ve liked it better if it also came with feeling happy all the time.

Kairi knew, intellectually, she was being unfair. Emotionally though, having to stay behind _again_ left the same bad taste in her mouth as it always did. In the boys’ defense, they tried their best to change everyone’s minds to let her join them on the trip this time, and it really wasn’t anyone’s fault; but a series of unfortunate events and timing led to the end result: she was here at peaceful, sunny, _safe_ Disney Castle while Sora and Riku were off to a world teetering on the brink of being swallowed by darkness, with Donald and Goofy as backup.

She wandered the halls, trying to avoid company. Kairi wasn’t _fit_ for company right now - Queen Minnie and Lady Daisy’s sympathy would only grate on her nerves. As much as she liked them, she didn’t want to hear their platitudes about the importance of her staying safe, of being here for the boys when they return. This mood will blow over and would only leave her feeling sad and lonely and useless eventually, but for now frustration simmered under her skin. In fact, she flexed her hand and felt the tingle of the keyblade, right at the edge of manifestation - maybe some exercise would be just the thing to settle herself right now.

Unfortunately, by the time she found what was the training hall - but was more like a whole training wing - she discovered it was not empty.

“Your majesty,” Kairi said, hesitating by the entryway. 

The King of Disney Castle had been doing a series of complicated looking katas, but when she spoke he stopped and turned to face her, his whole face lighting up at the sight of her with a wide smile. “Princess! Hello there, I didn’t hear you come in!” The smile gentled when he noted her lackluster smile in response. “Aw, you must be upset that you missed going with the boys.”

It was hard to stay irritated and sulky when faced with someone who was so genuinely happy to see her and so endlessly understanding. Kairi managed a more honest smile at the mouse king. “I was thinking I would practice a little while I wait. Use this time wisely and all.”

“That’s a great idea!” Mickey’s tail flicked in excitement. “Maybe I can also practice with you?”

“Would you?” Kairi had been sparring with Sora and Riku back on the Islands for awhile now, and a few times even with the both of them. But she knew that testing her skill against different opponents would only help her improve that much faster, and the King was a Keyblade master before the three of them even knew about Keyblades. “That would be really great!”

He waved her in enthusiastically. “Come on, then!”

**

Despite that, he insisted she warm up properly and it was with a much calmer mindset - not so frustrated or over-enthusiastic as to be impatient - that she ended up facing the mouse king inside the sparring ring.

As Kairi set her stance, she mentally went over what Riku and Sora had taught her - forms for offense, forms for defense, how to watch her opponent...And she took a deep breath as they tapped their keyblades together and took one step back, as the signal to begin.

She swung her keyblade with a yell, taking the offensive immediately. Kairi had no illusions about needing to go easy on Mickey, even if the top of his ears barely reached her chest. And as much as Riku liked to lecture her on brains over brawn, she didn’t have much patience for observation. It probably came from having to wait on the sidelines for so long.

The mouse king easily dodged all her attacks, barely having to duck her swings until she adjusted for their height difference. Then he started jumping _over_ her attacks, with enough clearance that she was too impressed to be frustrated at missing. When she started upping the ante, following up her keyblade swings with bursts of magic, he laughed lightly, and either skillfully evaded or effortlessly casted the opposite element and canceled her attacks out. 

When she skidded back into a defensive stance, panting from exertion, that was when he attacked.

In a few seconds, Kairi found herself frantically parrying and dodging strikes so fast that she could barely see them. It had always seemed odd to her when they sparred, how _fast_ Riku actually was - he had always been more of the strong and skilled type. If he had ever sparred with the king though, then that made total sense. Riku would’ve _had_ to get fast, in a desperate attempt at self-preservation.

Mickey got her off-balance, trying to bend out of the way of a horizontal slash - Kairi yelped when he spun back, hooked the teeth of his keyblade against her ankle, and toppled her over. 

“Yield?” he asked from an arm’s length away, as she pushed herself up to her feet, her tailbone aching. She grinned at him. The boys learned not to ask her that eventually, and the king will too.

“Again.” She replied.

\---

Slowly but surely, her blistered and aching hands became calloused, and Destiny’s Embrace became familiar in her grip. Riku nudged her feet into the right places to give her the most balance for her fighting style, something that was currently a rather patchwork mashup of things she had learned, things she had seen, and the occasional spell that utilized her Light affinity. Sora was always up for a spar or a demonstration, and he was her loudest, most adamant supporter (Riku was her most adamant supporter too, he just wasn’t loud).

Kairi fought with the two of them regularly, squeezing in as much training as she possibly could in between school, their duties as Keyblade wielders and her as the Princess of Light, and her own normal life. They were still going easy on her, but less and less as time went on. Going off world and getting real battle experience helped, and gradually the boys stopped giving tips on footwork and keyblade grips and started talking about battle strategy: how to fight one to many, many to one, one on one. Against enemies that had some sort of distinct advantage or special skill, against enemies that were coordinated, not coordinated, or were way out of her league. 

(“But we’ll be there to help,” Sora added. She rolled her eyes - she didn’t doubt that he’d try, that he would be there if at all possible, but she never wanted to be their weak point, their achilles’ heel again, and for that she needed to be prepared for when they weren’t there to help.)

Riku was the one that was better at explaining things to her - Sora seemed to effortlessly understand things, but had trouble laying it out in a comprehensible way. Riku was the one that pointed out what things to look for, what expectations and assumptions can be used, and which ones could be dangerous.

Take Sora, for example. Removing the lens of him as her long time best friend, Kairi saw him as a gangly teenager, all thin arms and sharp elbows and clumsy looking feet. Sora was baby-faced and bright-eyed, and his grin could light up a room. When he had his keyblade in hand, his stance was low and steady, and she looked at him and thought, he would be fast and agile. And he was. Sora was so fast and so agile, but he also hit like a jackhammer and was as relentless as the summer storms that pummeled the islands every year. Once he got a good momentum going, he was nearly unstoppable, no matter how skinny his arms looked. And the minute she got some breathing space between herself and Hurricane Sora, the spells started - a barrage of fire or ice or lightning until he closed in again.

And Riku - looking at him, always taller, sturdier, shoulders broad enough to take on the weight of the world - she’d think that he would be strong. And he was, but Riku also had an oddly high stance that finally made sense the first time that he _moved_ and slipped like the shadows behind her, too fast to see clearly. When he smirked and tilted his chin just so, she could be fooled to think he would be cocky and arrogant, throwing out taunting words as much as attacks, like he used to before the Darkness came. But now Riku is quiet, silent. He fought fast and careful and _smart_. Sora had the benefit and the experience of battling in a trio - used to Donald and Goofy’s support in offense and defense. Riku fought like he knew he had to be his own offense and defense, and even though she knew he wanted her to be more like Sora, she understood that she had to at least understand how to fight alone. 

\---

Deja vu was flopping down on her back, this time on the padded floor of the training hall. Her chest was heaving and her body ached everywhere. Her keyblade was still in her hand, which was sweaty and gross like the rest of her, and she huffed hard once, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. 

Mickey’s round black ears, then his face, came into view. He didn’t ask for her to yield this time, because Kairi laughed breathlessly and said, “I give up, your majesty.”

“You did great, Princess!” he said in his squeaky voice, holding out a gloved hand to help her up. “You’ll be a master in no time!”

Kairi laughed again, taking the hand. The mouse king’s grip was surprisingly strong - or maybe not that surprising, considering the beating he just dealt out. “Anyone that can whoop my ass so thoroughly can call me Kairi,” she said once she was upright again.

He gave her a look of mock disapproval for the language, but it fell back into a smile in a blink. “Well then, Kairi. We should do this again sometime, but for now, let’s clean up and rest. With any luck, Sora and Riku will be back soon!”

**

End


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A slice of an idyllic future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet, something I wrote a long time ago set in a happy-ending sort of future. In case no one's noticed, I'm not terribly good at romance in my writing, I prefer to focus on the friendships, even if I do see them as romantically involved. Of course now that I've thought that, I will get romantic story bunnies...

***

The idea came to Kairi at the top of the stairs, while she paused for a second to catch her breath from the climbing (and the bags of groceries). It was mildly wrong like those horrible comedy movies Sora liked, but she grinned and decided to go ahead with it anyway.

The door wasn't locked - it never was, when there was someone at the apartment. So all she had to do was juggle the bags until one hand was freed. Twisting the knob and flinging the door open, she called out in the most obnoxiously cheerful voice she could muster: "Honey! I'm home!"

And it was perfect, because right past the threshold, right past the narrow little hall that served as an entryway to their small apartment, Sora stood in the kitchen with Kairi's apron on (the pink and frilly one that Selphie had gotten her for Christmas last year) and a ladle in hand, the perfect picture of domesticity. In contrast, Riku was just lifting his head from the kitchen table, eyebrows raising.

Sora's brilliant blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "Darling!" he cooed in his best falsetto and sashayed up to her. "Welcome back, husband! The food is almost ready."

Kairi kissed him firmly on the cheek with a loud smacking sound. Making her voice as manly as it could go, she declared solemnly: "I have the best wife ever." As one, they turned to check Riku's reaction.

Riku seemed torn between eyebrow twitching and snickering, and ended up doing both. "Oookay. Obviously you two are too crazy to be left alone for too long."

The three of them laughed and Kairi set down the groceries by the fridge while Sora went back to the stove to attend the gently simmering pot of...something. She navigated past Sora and leaned down to give Riku a peck on the cheek. "Welcome back, husband." She said teasingly.

He rolled his eyes. "Welcome back to you too, 'husband'."

"Hey, how come I'm the only wife?" Sora exclaimed.

"Cuz you're wearing the frilly apron," Riku shot back and Kairi chuckled. Sora sniffed with great dignity.

"See if YOU get any stew."

"Oh, no," Riku drawled. "I already did my part, I've earned the food fair and square."

"What did you do? You've been gone a week." Kairi asked. Riku smirked and jerked a thumb toward their living room. Kairi looked, not without a touch of wariness.

The last time she had seen the room (which was this morning, before she left for class), it was a total disaster zone. It had been a bad time, with midterms and papers due for both her and Sora. Riku had left a week earlier on a mission and he was usually the one with the lowest mess tolerance, so stacks of books and papers and dirty clothes were building up on the ground and their lone sofa. Neither of them had the time to even get groceries and they were surviving on leftovers and take-out - today was the first time Sora had time to cook and Kairi had time to pick up extra groceries.

Kairi could see the floor and sofa again, all the clothes were picked up (and presumably in the hamper, she couldn't see from here) and the books were stacked on the end-table. The throw rug was rolled up and set to the side, and the cause of the transformation was an animated broom with arms, hauling a bucket and...mopping the floor.

"..." she said. Riku looked very self-satisfied as he awaited her verdict. "...you _stole_ one of the King's servants???" She gaped.

"Wha-no!" he sputtered while Sora laughed. "I _borrowed_ it! Mickey said it was fine!" he shot Sora a glare when the other keyblade wielder didn't stop snickering. "I'm going to tell it to not do your chores if you don't stop." Riku threatened.

"It already picked up the living room!" Sora wheezed. "I'm good for the week!"

"There's still laundry." Riku said darkly. Kairi finally got over her shock and caught the same giggles that felled Sora.

"You ... _borrowed_ one of the King's servants...to get out of doing chores?" She had to cover her mouth to hide her grin when Riku transferred his affronted look to her. "You are such a BOY."

"Well," Riku finally said once they stopped laughing, "it's a good thing that it's not _my_ turn to take out the trash this week, since this guy can't do it." Kairi's eyes widened and she rushed to the fridge, where the chores duty wheel was posted. Riku smiled sweetly at her as she made an indignant noise at the list. "Have fun taking out the trash, dear."

**  
End


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Visiting Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden, part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I can't remember if we find out Kairi's actually from Radiant Garden in KH2. Oh, well. Don't be fooled by the potential for plot...because I don't think there really will be any. Oops.

**

They could have landed the Gummi ship closer to the castle, but Kairi wanted to get more practice and this was supposed to be a trip for her to get used to traveling to different worlds anyway. So Sora put them down at the edge of the Maw with some unvoiced misgivings, and exchanged a look with Riku as Kairi excitedly bounced by the exit. Their best friend had been antsy the entire flight over, brimming with energy at the thought of getting to visit another world after being left behind for so long. It wasn’t entirely surprising that she was the first one out of the ship too.

“Hurry up, slowpokes!” She called as Riku and Sora disembarked at a more reasonable pace. “Do we go left or right?”

Riku tilted his head and smiled faintly at Sora. “You’d better go lead, or else Kairi’s going to go chase Heartless until we’re all lost.” Kairi socked him lightly in the arm for that, which Riku responded with a fond expression and an eye roll.

They didn’t get to bicker for much longer, because as soon as they were out of sight of the ship, a handful of Heartless materialized in front of them.

Sora realized, as he smacked the two Shadows trying to sneak up on Kairi’s left as she decimated the mage Heartless in front of her, and Riku quietly making short work of the other Shadows on the other side, that he might’ve made a minor miscalculation: One Keyblade wielder, with two friends to help, had been enough to get through Hollow Bastion, and then Radiant Garden, mostly unscathed. Three keyblade wielders, only one of whom was still in training (and still really kickass, despite that)...could only be described as kind of overkill.

“Whew, that was fun!” Kairi said, barely winded. That had taken about three minutes. She twirled her keyblade with a slight flourish before dismissing it. “What’s next?”

Sora laughed because her excitement was infectious, but it was Riku who waved a hand toward the castle in the distance. Kairi followed his gesture, then grinned back at them widely. Sora’s eyes widened as she yelled, “I’ll race you guys there! Loser is a rotten paopu!” and took off.

“Kairi!” he shouted after her, slightly alarmed despite just thinking that the three of them could handle anything that might pop up here, “Come back! Watch out for- ” and as if to mock him, he watched as more Heartless appeared in front of his best friend, only for her to mow through them like a hot knife through butter. “...Heartless…” he trailed off as she glanced back at him and stuck her tongue out. 

His other best friend just shook his head. “You are a _terrible_ influence on her.” Riku noted.

“How is this _my_ fault?!”

“Slooooooooowpokes!” Kairi laughed from her obvious position in first place. Sora growled as Riku laughed. 

“Go ahead,” Riku jerked a thumb toward Kairi as she ran. “Kids need to burn off their excess energy.”

“I guess you’ll be the rotten paopu, grandpa,” Sora grinned, shifting his foot back. He jumped like he had springs in his ankles and shrugged off gravity when it started to drag him down. The wind ruffled his hair as Glide kicked in. Up ahead, Kairi shrieked and put on a burst of speed. 

“Gliding is cheating!” she yelled and he dropped the Glide right next to her so he could swing at a Crimson Jazz that was gearing up to cast. At the same time, she shot off a Fira at a Neoshadow, and Riku was once again, leisurely bringing up the rear. That was suspicious, Sora thought. Realllly suspicious. But then Kairi pulled ahead again and Sora focused on giving chase.

**

Kairi was bent in half, hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath. It was really difficult because she ran most of the way here while fighting Heartless, and she was also laughing so hard that her eyes were tearing up.

“Let go!”

“No, you cheated!”

“Having longer legs is not cheating!”

“Is too!”

Riku was always so cool and collected when he was with other people. He wore the mantle of maturity and adulthood well, and most of the time it was even true. But put him in the same place as Sora and give him a competition that didn’t involve anything world-ending or life-threatening...well. It was good to see the old Riku.

Sora was still clinging to Riku’s leg, hindering the other boy’s forward progress significantly. All Kairi knew was that Sora was almost on top of her by the time they were in sight of the Bailey, and then he yelped and fell out of her line of vision because Riku came up from behind and tripped him. The older boy would’ve easily beaten her at that point - her heart without any darkness really didn’t have any bearing on her endurance, unfortunately, and Sora had a point about Riku’s legs being ridiculously long. But Sora came to her rescue - or getting his own revenge, and tripped Riku in turn. Kairi made it to the top of the Bailey first by virtue of their tussle, which Riku won only because he managed to get to his feet first. Sora made Riku work hard for his second place win though, by attaching himself to the victor’s leg and making Riku drag him along to the finish line.

Kairi burst into fresh cackles when she looked up to see Riku finally dislodging his Sora-leech, losing a shoe in the process, and Sora standing up after his tumble with the solemn dignity of a cat that failed to nail a jump. If any of the world’s inhabitants were to find them now...well. She knew she should feel embarrassed, but mostly she just basked in the joy of being with her friends in a new world, full of possibilities.

**  
End


End file.
